With New $5 Million Grant, The Weinberg Foundation Provides a Total of $16... -- BALTIMORE, Dec, 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

With New $5 Million Grant, The Weinberg Foundation Provides a Total of $16 Million for Scholarships to Baltimore Jewish Day Schools Over 11 Years

BALTIMORE, Dec, 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the United States, today announced a $5 million commitment over five years to support scholarship needs at 10 Jewish Day Schools in Baltimore that together enroll more than 4,400 students in K-12 education.

The new $5 million grant was preceded by an $11 million grant over six years announced in 2006. In total, the Weinberg Foundation will have provided $16 million over 11 years to Jewish Day Schools in Baltimore, Maryland. The grants support a scholarship program managed by the Center for Jewish Education, an agency of THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore. In partnership with THE ASSOCIATED, and with the help of the community as a whole, Weinberg Foundation support will have been a catalyst for approximately $24 million in total support for Jewish Day Schools in Baltimore.

"We believe this is one of the largest direct scholarship programs for Jewish education ever in North America," said Barry Schloss, Weinberg Foundation Trustee and Treasurer. "We have enjoyed a wonderful partnership with THE ASSOCIATED as well as each of the Jewish Day Schools receiving scholarship support for their students. Beyond addressing our shared concern that an affordable Jewish education be available to every family in Baltimore that wants one," Schloss continued, "the Foundation is especially pleased to have assisted local Jewish day school programs in weathering the extraordinary financial pressures of the recession."

In developing the scholarship program, the Weinberg Foundation and THE ASSOCIATED reviewed studies revealing that the cost of a Jewish day school education in the Baltimore area is beyond the reach of more than half the families who want one. Funds benefit students in need who are enrolled in grades K-12 at an eligible Jewish day school.

"The newest match is but another example of the unique unity from which the Jewish community in Baltimore benefits," said Marc B. Terrill, President of THE ASSOCIATED. "We all understand the importance of Jewish education and collectively work to strengthen our schools and educational institutions. We thank the Weinberg Foundation and look forward to continuing to find ways to partner in the years ahead."

In announcing this additional $5 million grant, which decreases year to year, the Weinberg Foundation also noted that this gift marks the conclusion of Foundation support, in the near term, for Jewish day schools. "The Foundation is proud of its commitment to Jewish education as well as the new learning opportunities for countless students represented by these multi-year grants," said Rachel Monroe, Foundation President. "The Foundation has fulfilled this long-term commitment which continues to produce tangible, meaningful results.

"At the conclusion of this second grant, which will represent 11 years of continuous funding, the Foundation will step back to examine other needs of the Jewish community and the community-at-large." Monroe concluded by saying that The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation will not fund Jewish education outside of the Foundation's "hometowns" including Baltimore, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and Hawaii.

About The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg FoundationThe Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, one of the largest private charitable foundations in the United States, providesapproximately $100 million in annual grants to nonprofits that provide direct services to economically disadvantaged people, primarily in the U.S. and Israel.Grants are focused on meeting basic needs and enhancing an individual's ability to meet those needs with emphasis on older adults, the Jewish community, and our hometown communities of Maryland, northeastern Pennsylvania, and Hawaii. The trustees, some of whom also serve as executive officers of the Foundation, are Alvin Awaya, Judge Ellen M. Heller, Robert T. Kelly, Jr., Barry I. Schloss, and Chairman of the Board Donn Weinberg. Rachel Monroe serves as the Weinberg Foundation's President. For more information please go to www.hjweinbergfoundation.org.